Vancouver: From frontier to cosmopolitan center

The Canadian city supports a diverse array of synagogues, Jewish day schools, a JCC, delis and a brand new upscale kosher restaurant.

By ARTHUR WOLAK

August 8, 2010 03:15

vancouver 311.
(photo credit: Arthur Wolak)

VANCOUVER – During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada‚s vibrant city of Vancouver
captivated the attention of television viewers worldwide because of its
attractive cityscapes and thrilling downhill skiing in Whistler, a picturesque
mountain resort just two-hour’s drive north.

Situated between the Pacific
Ocean and snow-capped mountains, Vancouver is celebrated for its cultural and
architectural diversity. Eye-catching structures include the central branch of
the Vancouver Public Library on West Georgia Street, an impressive building
modeled on Rome’s Colosseum by Israeli-Canadian architect, Moshe
Safdie.

Vancouver’s Symphony Orchestra and its many museums – especially
the Museum of Anthropology and Vancouver Art Gallery – are also world
renowned.

Vancouver was not always so cosmopolitan.

Once a
frontier town on the outskirts of the more populated eastern cities of North
America, Vancouver‚s development was fuelled by substantial immigration and
investment, making Vancouver the largest city in the province of British
Columbia.

In all of Canada, only Toronto and Montreal are larger than
Vancouver, and the same goes for their Jewish populations.

The Jewish
community of Vancouver swelled after the Second World War, with migrants
arriving from colder parts of Canada, the US, and Europe. The city’s population
growth paralleled the city’s evolution from a small hick town to the major
metropolis it is today.

With about 25,000 Jews, Vancouver’s community is
modest compared to New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, yet it supports a diverse
array of synagogues, Jewish day schools, a JCC, several delis, and one brand new
upscale kosher restaurant – the Maple Grill – that has already become a hot spot
for locals and tourists, both Jewish and not.

Even before the war, Jewish
influence proved significant to Vancouver’s growth.

Incorporated in 1886,
Vancouver‚s second mayor was David Oppenheimer, a Jewish immigrant from Germany
known as the “father of Vancouver” because his period in power –from 1888
through 1891– was arguably the most productive in the city’s
history.

Oppenheimer’s leadership helped shape Vancouver’s general
character. He organized the city’s water supply, spearheaded the paving of
streets and sidewalks, and initiated the installation of streetcars and the
construction of the city‚s first bridges.

He also successfully lobbied
for a city hospital and more parks.

Since the Oppenheimer family had
achieved considerable wealth in many business ventures during and after the Gold
Rush, David, a generous philanthropist, took no pay for his mayoral
duties.

He even donated personal landholdings for the establishment of
city parks and schools, and offered land for the city‚s first
synagogue.

Though there were a couple of temporary congregations
established in the late 19th century, a synagogue building would not appear in
Vancouver until 1911.

Before then, the closest synagogue building was
Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El on Vancouver Island. Built in 1863 on Blanshard
Street, it remains a national heritage site, the oldest continuously functioning
synagogue in Canada and along the west coast of North America. Although Victoria
was the provincial capital, Vancouver would ultimately attract the greatest
share of settlers, including BC‚s growing Jewish population.

During Mayor
Oppenheimer’s first term in office, in 1888, the thousand-acre Stanley Park was
officially opened. Among North America‚s largest urban parks, it remains
visually spectacular and immensely popular. A rustic area adjacent to an urban
downtown core, the park attracts hundreds of thousands each year to its many
recreational areas, trails, restaurants, and natural old-growth
forest.

Although the Stanley Park Zoo was phased out in the 1990s (a
concession to local voters), the Vancouver Aquarium – now Canada‚s largest – is
a major highlight of the park.

Another highlight is the 5.5 mile
waterlined seawall. All year round Vancouver’s moderate climate attracts masses
of walkers, cyclists, and inline skaters to the seawall.

In homage to the
influence of Vancouver’s Jewish mayor, a prominent bronze monument in memory of
David Oppenheimer stands in Stanley Park near the entrance at Beach
Street.

THE CENTER of Vancouver’s Jewish community was originally next to
Chinatown where Congregation B’nai Yehudah, the first synagogue, was constructed
in 1911 at the corner of East Pender and Heatley Streets in Strathcona,
Vancouver‚s oldest residential neighborhood. The Orthodox shul, renamed Schara
Tzedeck Synagogue in 1917, was replaced in 1921 with a new and larger
building.

Despite North American Jews‚ fondness for Chinese food,
Vancouver’s Jewish life soon shifted to the west side along Oak Street where new
neighborhoods, especially Oakridge, were on the rise. Among other sites of
importance to the Jewish community, synagogues quickly followed, making Oak
Street a case study in contemporary Jewish sociology.

A shul representing
nearly every contemporary Jewish denomination can be found there. From north to
south, Oak is dotted with such large and impressive buildings as Congregation
Schara Tzedeck (Orthodox) at 19th Avenue – having relocated from Strathcona to
its new structure in 1948 – Congregation Beth Israel (Conservative) at 28th
Avenue, the Lubavitch Centre (Chassidic) at 41st Avenue, and Temple Sholom
(Reform) at 55th Avenue. Each was constructed in this same order between the
1940s and 1980s. Just a couple of blocks east of Oak, at Heather and 16th, is
Congregation Beth Hamidrash, the only Sephardic Orthodox synagogue west of
Toronto. Jewish secular life, stressing the study of Yiddish and Jewish cultural
traditions, is also represented in Oakridge by the Peretz Centre on Ash
Street.

By the 1990s, the city’s rising population and increased
diversity led to the opening of new synagogues. Beside Vancouver’s largest and
well-established Oak Street shuls, Congregation Or Shalom (Renewal) brought the
return of an official Jewish presence to the east side of town, establishing its
synagogue on Fraser Street at 10th Avenue. The Ohel Ya’akov Community Kollel
(Traditional) opened its doors on West Broadway. The Kollel is wellknown for its
weekly Shabbat-eve Carlebach- style services, which are followed by dinners that
attract large crowds of locals and visitors alike.

Since the 1970s, in
response to skyrocketing Vancouver real estate prices, Jews began to spread
beyond the shtetl of Oak Street and into the suburbs. As a result, numerous
shuls sprang up in the southern, northern, and eastern parts of Metro
Vancouver.

The largest include Beth Tikvah (Conservative), Eitz Chaim
Congregation and Young Israel (both Orthodox) in Richmond, Congregation Har-El
(Conservative) in North Vancouver, and Congregation Sha‚arai Mizrah (Reform) in
Coquitlam.

Chabad Houses can also be found throughout Metro Vancouver,
from suburban White Rock/South Surrey and Richmond, to downtown Vancouver –
which, as the downtown’s sole Jewish house of worship, became the unofficial
“Jewish Pavilion” during the Olympic Games.

While suburban Jews represent
a substantial segment of the local Jewish community, Vancouver remains the focal
point of Jewish life throughout the metropolitan area. At the crossroads of 41st
and Oak is Louis Brier, a Jewish retirement home and hospital, kitty-corner from
the city’s large Jewish Community Center where Nava’s, a kosher dairy cafe,
serves a dedicated clientele.

Other kosher delis and restaurants include
Omnitzky’s at nearby Cambie and 42nd, Sabra’s Glatt Kosher Restaurant and Bakery
on Oak and 23rd, Garden City Bakery in Richmond, and Mount Royal Bagel Factory
in North Vancouver. Non-kosher Jewish delis are also prevalent, none more
popular than Kaplan’s Star Deli, which, for decades, has been a popular local
meeting spot at Oak and 42nd.

The newest Jewish culinary contribution to
Vancouver is the Maple Grill, located on the ground floor of Broadway’s Kollel
building. Its upscale gourmet menu attracts as many patrons representing diverse
ethnicities and religions as those who come to enjoy its exotic kosher menu,
offering a non-deli selection of eclectic dishes unlike any other kosher
establishment in town.

DESPITE ITS Dazzling modernity, Vancouver has not
ignored tradition. Surrounding a very large area of town, comprising the city’s
synagogues, delis and restaurants, is a virtually invisible eruv – marking a
traditional enclosure in which Torah-observant Jews can carry items without
violating laws of Shabbat. Vancouver’s only mikve is located at Congregation
Schara Tzedeck.

Evolving from a village at the start of Mayor
Oppenheimer’s tenure into the world-class city it is today, there is much to see
and do in Vancouver. But for those who want to explore, Vancouver also serves as
a gateway to other popular destinations like Whistler, Vancouver Island and
cruises to Alaska. Since one visit to the city will inspire many more, Jewish
tourists can rest assured that there is just as much to see and do within
Vancouver’s vibrant Jewish community as there is in the rest of
Vancouver.

Its restaurants, sights and sounds are certain to please even
the most discerning international traveler.

Sites Of Interest

The Jerusalem Post Customer Service Center can be contacted with any questions or requests:
Telephone: *2421 * Extension 4 Jerusalem Post or 03-7619056 Fax: 03-5613699E-mail: [email protected]
The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 07:00 and 14:00 and Fridays only handles distribution requests between 7:00 and
13:00
For international customers: The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 7AM and 6PM
Toll Free number in Israel only 1-800-574-574
Telephone +972-3-761-9056
Fax: 972-3-561-3699
E-mail: [email protected]